Gittin 12a

גיטין י״ב ע״א

Learn Gittin 12a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 12a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Whether a master may tell his slave 'Work for me, and I will not feed you,' after setting aside the proof from the פאה dispute

Overview

The amud opens by knocking down a proof. The גמרא had tried to settle whether someone who grabs property for a creditor acquires it, by linking it to the dispute between רבי אליעזר and the רבנן about gathering פאה for a poor friend. The גמרא shows that each side may rely on its own special reason: a מיגו for רבי אליעזר, and a פסוק for the רבנן. It then explains how רבי אליעזר reads that פסוק. Next, the גמרא infers from the משנה that a master may tell his slave, 'Work for me, and I will not feed you.' It pushes this aside by saying the master may have let the slave keep his earnings for his food. The same answer is defended against a ברייתא about a slave and a wife exiled to the ערי מקלט, and against a dispute between רבן שמעון בן גמליאל and חכמים about a slave in years of famine. Finally the גמרא brings a proof from רב about a slave whose work was given to the הקדש. It rejects that proof too, and its challenge to that rejection continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (33)

1. Rejectionרבי אליעזר's view may rest on a special reason
2. RejectionThe רבנן's view may rest on a verse
3. QuestionHow does רבי אליעזר read the verse?
4. ResponseThe verse warns a poor man about his own field
5. ProofInferring that a master may refuse to feed his working slave
6. RejectionThe master let the slave keep his own earnings
7. ChallengeThen why can't a husband make the same deal with his wife?
8. ResolutionThe wife's earnings are not enough to feed her
9. ChallengeThen say the slave also cannot support himself
10. ResolutionA slave not worth his food is useless to his owner
11. ProofNew proof from a slave exiled to a city of refuge
12. RejectionHere too, the master gave the slave his earnings
13. ChallengeIf the master said so, why does he get the slave's earnings?
14. ResolutionThe master gets only the leftover earnings
15. ChallengeIsn't it obvious that the surplus goes to the master?
16. ResolutionYou might have thought the master loses the surplus too
17. ChallengeWhy mention the ערי מקלט at all?
18. Resolution"And live": you might have given the exile extra
19. ChallengeThe exiled wife shows nothing was said
20. ChallengeIf the wife's case is where nothing was said, so is the slave's
21. ResolutionBoth cases are where he spoke, but the wife's earnings fall short
22. ChallengeThe next line implies the earlier line had no statement
23. ResolutionReading the ending as: if her earnings are enough
24. ChallengeWhy say this about an exiled wife?
25. ResolutionBecause of 'כל כבודה בת מלך פנימה'
26. ProofSuggesting the question is an old dispute between תנאים
27. ProofProposing what the two sides argue about
28. RejectionTwo problems with that reading
29. ResolutionThe real case: the master told him to live off his earnings
30. ResolutionWhy each side argues about the slave in famine years
31. ProofA proof from רב about a slave whose work was given to the Temple
32. Rejectionרב's case is where the master does feed him
33. ChallengeIf the master feeds him, why would he need to borrow?